Khosro Heydari and Arash Borhani scored as Esteghlal beat Zobahan 2-0 at Azadi Stadium to remain in the hunt for a place in the 2012 AFC Champions League group stage.

Defender Heydari opened the scoring midway through the first half from Jlloyd Samuel's cross following good work from Fereydoon Zandi, who scored twice earlier this week as the Iran Pro League title contenders came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with against Saipa.

And new signing Samuel also had a hand in the second after 67 minutes as the former Aston Villa and Bolton Wanderers defender flicked on Heydari's cross for Borhani to head home from six yards.

Esteghlal will next face Saudi Arabia's Al Ettifaq - who are led by former Iran national coach Branko Ivankovic - at Azadi Stadium on Saturday as Parviz Mazloumi's side look to secure a place in Group A alongside Qatar's Al Rayyan, Al Jazira of the United Arab Emirates and 2011 AFC Cup winners Nasaf from Uzbekistan.

"I congratulate the Zobahan technical staff for helping put on an attractive match and I thank the fans for supporting us in the rain," said Mazloumi, who was without Iranian internationals Andranik Teimourian and Mojtaba Jabbari.

"We are thinking about Ettifaq. I hope even more fans come as we're now talking about the name of Iran."

Zobahan coach Mansour Ebrahimzadeh, meanwhile, congratulated Esteghlal but admitted his players were at fault for the defeat.

"In the end, we lost thanks to two mistakes. Nobody picked up Samuel," said Ebrahimzadeh, who led Zobahan to the 2010 AFC Champions League final and quarter-finals last year.

"Until the second goal, we had all the possession and they were thinking about the counter attack.

"I hope that Esteghlal can go all the way to the final."